Alexandre Burrows Not Suspended: Why the NHL Handled Bite-Gate the Right Way

The NHL announced Thursday that Vancouver Canucks forward Alex Burrows would not face a suspension after his apparent finger bite of Boston's Patrice Bergeron.

The league claimed that its review of the video showed inconclusive evidence that Burrows did in fact bite Bergeron during a scrum at the end of the first period of Game 1. This decision will no doubt bring on a great outcry from the Boston faithful, but it was the right call.

Biting another player is never acceptable, and wasn't in this case. It also seems likely that, despite the NHL's view of the play, Burrows did chomp down on Bergeron's gloved finger.

But, not suspending Burrows was the right call.

Emotions aside, the play was rather meaningless. Bergeron is not hurt, and the Bruins were rewarded with a power play to start the second period.

To suspend a player, in the Stanley Cup Final, for a play that, while childish and cheap, had no effect on the game would have been a mistake.

Just as suspending Bruins forward Nathan Horton for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals—for spraying and throwing a water bottle at a fan—would have been.

Yes, the league book says both offenses are suspendable actions. If these were incidents in the regular season, they would have been suspended.

While these actions aren't great for the PR of the league, nobody was hurt by either, and neither the actions or the players had any affect on the outcome of any games.

In the playoffs, a different standard is applied and should be applied. The stakes are higher, and actions that aren't hurting anyone or giving a team a clear advantage need to be looked at, case-by-case.

It would be in the league's best interest to come out and say so, and avoid endless discussion and debate about the incident.

That being said, plays where guys are injured, such as late hits or hits to the head, should still be suspendable if deemed bad enough.

But a little nibble on a glove that was shoved in someone's face, or squirting water at an unruly fan—hardly worth penalizing a team over. 

People can dislike Burrows or say he is a dirty player all they want. They have valid points, and his past sure would make it hard to defend him too much. His actions in this case, weren't worthy of a Stanley Cup Final suspension.